Screen content, or data describing information displayed to a user by a computing system on a display, generally includes a number of different types of content. These can include, for example, text content, video content, static images (e.g., displays of windows or other GUI elements), and slides or other presentation materials. Increasingly, screen content is delivered remotely, for example so that two or more remote computing systems can share a common display, allowing two remotely-located individuals to view the same screen simultaneously, or otherwise in a teleconference such that a screen is shared among multiple individuals. Because screen content is delivered remotely, and due to increasing screen resolutions, it is desirable to compress this content to a size below its native bitmap size, to conserve bandwidth and improve efficiency in transmission.
Although a number of compression solutions exist for graphical data such as screen content, these compression solutions are inadequate for use with variable screen content. For example, traditional Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) codecs provide satisfactory compression for video content, since the compression solutions rely on differences between sequential frames. Furthermore, many devices have integrated MPEG decoders that can efficiently decode such encoded data. However, MPEG encoding does not provide substantial data compression for non-video content that may nevertheless change over time, and therefore is not typically used for screen content, in particular for remote screen display.
Methods for delivering screen content to remote systems can be inefficient, can require a large amount of data communication, and can be resource-intensive. Accordingly, strategies for compressing and efficiently representing screen content for use in connection with remote systems, including graphical content, requires substantial processing to occur on the receiving device, which uses substantial power.